WNBA's Detroit Shock selects Humphrey at pick No. 11

Posted: Thursday, April 10, 2008

The Motor City will make room for another Georgia basketball player after expansion franchise Atlanta passed on local product Tasha Humphrey in Wednesday's WNBA draft.

The forward became the third former Lady Bulldog to join the Detroit Shock roster when the four-time, first-team All-SEC selection was selected Wednesday with the 11th overall pick in the draft held in Palm Harbor, Fla.

"They have a great organization and a few Georgia girls on there," Humphrey said. "It is going to be fun. Hopefully they'll show me the ropes to make the transition from the collegiate level to the professional level a lot smoother."

"We seem to collect a lot of them over the course of time, said Shock coach Bill Laimbeer, the former Pistons' all-star. "Georgia players seem to be very talented."

Laimbeer said last week he didn't think that Humphrey would be around at No. 11. He was thrilled to be wrong when he scooped up Humphrey, who measured 6-2 at the predraft camp.

Detroit, which won league titles in 2006 and 2003, took Tennessee guard Alexis Hornbuckle, best of friends with Humphrey, earlier in the round with the fourth overall pick.

At No. 8, Atlanta opted not to take Humphrey, an in-state product from Gainesville, and select a guard instead: Tamera Young from James Madison.

Three picks later, Humphrey went to Detroit.

"We sat there before the draft started and said there's no way that Humphrey's going to be there at 11," Laimbeer said. "We started putting names on a piece of paper and it became clear that if Atlanta went a certain way that we would have our choice of a lot of big players including Humphrey. She was the player that we had of our No. 1 choice of the remaining bigs.

Humphrey is the eighth first-round pick from Georgia since 2001 and she'll be counted on to make a contribution since the Shock have only seven players under contract.

"She has a 3-ball that is difficult to get in a lot of big players," Laimbeer said. "She can pass well and compete for time, which will be great for her. Her overall team play skills should fit pretty well into what we do."

Humphrey called it an "exciting day," even though she didn't end up in Atlanta

"Not everybody can say they accomplished their dream," Humphrey said. "It's always been a dream of mine to be a professional athlete. To say I've done it will always mean a lot to me."